May 11, 1915
Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Athletics @ St. Louis Browns
Connie Mack’s predictions that his club would get better
pitching and move up in the standings during their western road trip proved
astute today. Bob Shawkey led the
Athletics on the mound today and pitched the game of his young career. The St. Louis Browns could only get three
hits on the day, and though they worked five walks, they could get no runs on
the board. This was the first A’s
shutout since way back in the first game of the season when Herb Pennock almost
threw the Opening Day no-hitter. Shawkey
also helped out his cause by belting a double, allowing Stuffy McInnis to
scamper around third to score the go ahead run.
It was the eighth win of the year for the A’s, and while it didn’t bring
them closer to sixth place, it did give them a full game’s cushion from
last. Mack must have thought he found a
stud pitcher in Shawkey after his outing today.
Now if only he could find one or two more to give his club a fighting
chance at the playoffs.
The Pirates rolled into Philadelphia 100 years ago today
enjoying a six-game winning streak that saw them jump from last place to fifth
in the National League. Pittsburgh was
led by 41-year Honus Wagner, arguably the greatest shortstop to ever to play
the position. The Flying Dutchman
averaged 6.8 rWAR for his first 18 seasons and, outside of his first season in
the big leagues when he only played in 62 games, Wagner never had a season with
a sub-3 rWAR. Pittsburgh was a below average
to bad team for most of their existence before Honus joined the club in 1900
(As an aside, Connie Mack cut his managerial teeth with a three-year stint as
the Pirates skipper in the late 1890s and let’s just say it didn’t go well).
Since they got Wagner the Pirates went to two World Series, won one, and never
finished outside of the first division.
But in 1914, Wagner hit .252, by far the worst of his career, and the
Pirates took their first major step backwards, finishing seventh in the
National League. Nineteen-fifteen was a
rebound year for Wagner, and the Pirates hoped his recent success would
translate into a revitalization of the club.
The Phillies and Pirates were two clubs going in different
directions when they met at the Baker Bowl for the game today. The Phillies needed a win to pull them out of
their tailspin, but it wouldn’t be easy to pull it off versus this Pittsburgh
club that was firing on all cylinders.
And to make matters more difficult, Philadelphia would once again be
without the two captains, Fred Luderus and Bill Killefer. Fortunately, the Phillies had Grover
Cleveland Alexander pitching, looking to avenge the loss in his last
start. Today, Alexander was masterful,
only giving up four hits, three walks and two unearned runs while striking out
five Pirates. The Evening Ledger said that Alex was so magnificent that his
curveballs were even confusing for catcher Ed Burns and if he were being
scouting only in games were he caught Alexander, he would not be considered a
major league talent. It shows how good
Killefer was and how much he was missed when he needed a game or two off.
Dave Bancroft provided superb defense behind Alexander, even
drawing some comparisons to a young Honus Wagner. Bancroft also provided at the plate, hitting
a two-run single to put the Phillies ahead in the third. Actually, as a team, the Phillies had one of
their most productive games in a while, getting 10 hits, a walk and scoring 4
runs. In fact, everyone in the lineup
except Possum Whitted had a hit today.
It was certainly a well-played game by the Phillies and, they hoped, a
sign of things to come for the batters.
The game was tight until the seventh inning. Alexander was cruising along with a 2-1 lead
when Pirates’ pitcher George McQuillan stepped to the plate. Alex went into his windup and promptly threw
the pitch right into McQuillan’s pitching arm, giving him first base on a hit
by pitch. He moved to third on a single
by Max Carey. Maybe Alexander was a
worried about McQuillan threatening to score because Carey jumped a pitch and
stole second. Now, with runners at
second and third and one out, one of Pittsburgh’s biggest hitters, Doc Johnston,
stepped to the plate. Alexander wound up
and threw a pitch that Johnston launched to right field. Gavvy Cravath, known more for his bat and his
arm than his speed, got after it like a deer and made a leaping catch, smashing
into the wooden wall. Cravath composed
himself and turned to throw the ball home to catch what he assumed to be
McQuillan tagging up to score, but McQuillan was racing back to third. Apparently he
forgot the outs or didn’t think Cravath had any chance to make the catch and
sprinted for home when the ball was hit.
His blunder cost the Pirates the tying run. And whether he was overthinking his mistake
or Alexander’s bean ball roughed up his arm, McQuillan wasn’t right for the
rest of the game. He allowed two more
runs in the seventh and eighth and eventually took the loss, 4-2.
The home cooking was working so far for the Phillies, but
the Cubs kept pace with their win over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Boston fell off, though, by losing to the St.
Louis Cardinals. There wasn’t much to
say about this game other than it was a step in the right direction for the
club. This Phillies beat a team they
were certainly better than, despite what each club’s record in their previous
ten games had to say. Alexander
continued to be an incredible asset by picking up his sixth win of the
year. It must have been such a calming
presence to have the big Nebraskan on the mound, knowing that he was capable of
keeping the Phillies in any game and, as long as the offense helped just a
little, Philadelphia was very likely to go home the victor. The Phillies and Pirates had a day off
tomorrow, so Philadelphia had an extra day to celebrate their hard fought
win. Bob Harmon and his 3.98 ERA was
scheduled to pitch the next game against the Phillies, so it certainly looked
like they were set up well to take back-to-back games.
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